Ohio Rep Becomes Pro-Gun after Armed Attack

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that State Representative Michael DeBose (D-Cleveland) is seeking an Ohio Concealed Handgun License after twice voting against the concealed carry laws that were passed in 2004.

Unfortunately, like many people, it took the survival of a violent attack for Rep. DeBose to understand the importance of the innate right guaranteed by the Ohio Constitution: "The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security."

The loud muffler on a car that slowly passed as he was finishing the walk caught his attention, though. When the car stopped directly in front of his house - three houses from where he stood - he knew there was going to be a problem.

"There was a tall one and a short one," DeBose said, sipping on a McDonald's milkshake and recounting the experience Friday.

"The tall one reached in his pocket and pulled out a silver gun. And they both started running towards me."

"At first I just backed up, but then I turned around and started running and screaming."

It is a terrible fact of life that we live in a society that includes dangerous people willing to rob and murder law-abiding citizens. Thankfully, this criminal chose not to fire and take Representative DeBose's life as he was running away.

Hopefully, more and more people throughout our state and in our Statehouse will realize the importance of self-defense and follow in the footsteps of Representative DeBose in supporting Ohio's very successful concealed carry laws so that others may have the chance to not have their life ended by the whims of a crazed, armed robber.

Representative DeBose now realizes that:

"I was wrong," he said Friday.

"I'm going to get a permit and so is my wife.

"I've changed my mind. You need a way to protect yourself and your family.

"I don't want to hurt anyone. But I never again want to be in the position where I'm approached by someone with a gun and I don't have one."

DeBose said he knows that a gun doesn't solve Cleveland's violence problem; it's merely a street equalizer.

"There are too many people who are just evil and mean-spirited. They will hurt you for no reason. If more people were packing guns, it might serve as a deterrent.

The President of Ohioans for Concealed Carry, residing in the Cleveland area, contacted the office of Rep DeBose offering to train him, his wife, and other interested legislators at cost.

Economics of the Oil Industry

Note: There was a recent post on The Allburn Blog that sparked some comments. I had a few things bumping around the ol' noggin that I wanted to put there but the comment would've been quite unwieldy. Hopefully, we can continue the discussion.


Now, I have two things :


1) It's interesting that the same politicians *cough* liberals *cough* that are complaining about gas prices and our dependence on the Middle East are the ones that won't let us take prudent measures to fix them. Limited drilling in our own country makes sense, especially in ANWAR (the 2nd largest oil reserve ever found) and in the Gulf of Mexico (where other countries have been doing it with huge success for years. God forbid we do it though.)


2) The economics of the oil industry are really interesting. Interesting in the sense that they're not spectacular, people are ignorant about them, and people enjoy spouting nonsense about evil, greedy CEOs that make clothing out of thousand dollar bills and the skin of poor people. Through all of this, we need to keep in mind that these are the folks that find crude oil, obtain it, refine it, turn it into gas, ship it, store it, etc. They keep our entire economy moving. Pretty important service if you ask me.

With that...

By and large, the profit margin made by oil companies is lower than the average profit margin for many other goods/services. They receive "record breaking profits" that people whine about for many reasons, but mainly, it's because everybody uses gas. If you made $0.0001 profit on a product that the entire world uses, you'd be rich too. That doesn't mean they're reaming people.

Notice the date associated with this chart. Why wasn't the media focused on the evil bastards that run pharmaceutical companies? We were inundated with daily rants about gas profits.


Do you know the average profit that the evil oil villains makes on a gallon of $3.00 gas? About 8 cents.

Do you know the average profit that the government makes on a gallon of $3.00 gas for doing nothing? It varies by state and sources that you'll find, but I've consistently seen an average of 50-60 cents. Our good friend Andy is fortunate enough to live in a state that imposes the highest gas tax at close to 40 cents a gallon. That's before the Feds get their hands in the cookie jar. Now who's "price gouging"?

What's below is the most concise source for gas taxes that I could find. Note that this chart was from 2002. As such, be aware that taxes have increased with gas prices in the last few years. That's why the average is now reportedly 50-60 cents per gallon. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a more recent chart that was organized this nicely.

I am only pasting a snippet in which I highlighted some states of interest. Visit the link above for the entire chart.


How about if the government decides to give most of that tax back to the people to "control" prices? Has that even been mentioned? Why not? Why would we think of strong-arming businessmen with fascist economic regulation before demanding that gas taxes be lowered?

Let's say more government control is the path that is chosen. Let's look down that road for a second:

What happens if government regulation becomes so onerous that gasoline companies realize it's more worthwhile to pursue other ventures and quit making gas?

Answer: Either we all turn Amish or the government holds a gun to the heads of oil companies and forces them to work against their will.

Ahhhh, America.

I know people will want to tell me "that could never happen. It wouldn't get that far." However, I argue that if you agree that a 100% restricted economy is bad, then (generally) a 50% restricted economy is bad.

The best statement we can make (and about the only appropriate one) is to do what many intelligent readers are currently doing. Ride a bike. Walk to lunch. Buy a kick-ass Honda scooter that gets 85 mpg. It's completley unethical for someone to increase their consumption of gas (as America has continually) and simultaneously call for price restrictions out of selfishness.

Help me settle an argument

I've been talking for a long time with a co-worker about how people have no "right" to be on private property. My position is that you can be asked to leave an Applebee's for any reason, so long as it isn't the protected race, gender, etc. If you don't leave, you can be charged with trespassing.

He claims that that only holds true for "private property" that wouldn't include a "public" place like Applebees because (we're assuming) it's owned by shareholders or something and not one Mr. Applebee.

Personally, I think that's ridiculous and there aren't two classifications of private property like he's suggesting. Either it's a public place like a school or a park... or it's private property like your home or an Olive Garden. However, I've pored through Ohio Revised Code and can't find a damn thing to prove me right.

What say you?

Oh, and this all got drudged up again thanks to the Juice:

Ruby to O.J.: 'I'm not serving you'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The owner of an upscale steakhouse in Louisville said he asked O.J. Simpson to leave his restaurant the night before the Kentucky Derby because he is sickened by the attention Simpson still attracts.

"I didn't want to serve him because of my convictions of what he's done to those families," Jeff Ruby, owner of Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "The way he continues to torture the lives of those families ... with his behavior, attitude and conduct."

...

Have You Seen This?

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The Generation NEX Videogame Console is a blend of past, present, and future....taking an old but incredibly fun product and updating it with today’s technology. Get ready to relive the glory days, because Messiah Entertainment, Inc. is BRINGING GAMING BACK TO LIFE™!"

And it continues...

What is being called "The Community Defense Act" has passed the Ohio Senate. If you're thinking it deals with school protection, terrorist investigation, or illegal immigration... you'd be wrong.

Apparently, we have much bigger community defense deficiencies that need to be addressed:

S. B. No. 16

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

(A) No sexually oriented business shall be or remain open for business between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. on any day, except that a sexually oriented business that holds a liquor permit pursuant to Chapter 4303. of the Revised Code may remain open until the hour specified in that permit, provided that it does not conduct, offer, or allow sexually oriented entertainment activity between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m.

(B) While on the premises of a sexually oriented business:

(1) No employee, while nude or seminude, knowingly shall do any of the following:

(a) Appear in the view of any patron unless the employee is at least six feet from all patrons and on a stage at least two feet above the floor;
...

*sigh*

I hope Ohio passes a mandatory bedtime soon. Thanks for all your hard work, Citizens for Community Values.

I love you, YouTube

And especially for Joanna:

GOP Debate

I just finished watching tonight's GOP debate. I'm not going to get into a full and lengthy commentary about the proceedings, but I do want to list a very few simple impressions, beginning with the most powerful impressions and decreasing from there:

1) McCain looked really nervous at all times and robotic at most times. For him being considered as one of the top two GOP contenders, this guy seemed shaky and unsure of anything that he was talking about. He's always seemed comfortable during political interviews and even while entering the Lions' Den like Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. I was really surprised to see how unsure of himself he seemed tonight.

2) I know that you'll think I am biased (and you'd probably be right), but I was incredibly impressed with Huckabee. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be this pleased with him since I already know all of his positions. However... I was blown away. He was intelligent, humorous, sincere, and continued to back up his record and my favorite aspect of him in saying that he would return to conservative principles of individual responsibility. He emphatically stated something that you've previously heard on this blog and that no other candidate has approached, "Our country isn't great because of its government, it's great because of its people" Also, I was absolutely thrilled to hear him come out on record by saying that "as President, I would support the FairTax." He is one of only two candidates to say so. He also backed up his record in saying that he is a man of faith, but that he respects people that are true to themselves. He respects someone that would say, "I'm an atheist" a lot more than he would support someone saying, "I'm a devout Christian" that hasn't been to church in 20 years.

UPDATE: As I'm typing this, I heard Huckabee on a post-debate interview wishing that he could discuss the FairTax in more detail. You should know that I've been planning a FairTax post for quite some time and just haven't gotten around to it. I'm convinced that it would solve almost every single problem that faces America today. Deficit? Social Security? Unemployment? Global War on Terror? All can be solved by the FairTax. Look forward to more later and I beg you to go to your library and pick up a copy of The FairTax Book.

3) Romney looked sleazy. He said mostly the right things... just seemed slippery while doing it. That's all. Purely subjective. I can't explain it and it may be my prejudged notions coming forth... But he just came off as way too calculated, insincere, and his explanations of recent position switching are coincidentally politically convenient.

4) Giuliani was way too moderate to win. Strong performance though. You know that I disagree with a lot of things in which he believes, so again, I could be biased. His moderate positions would serve him well in the final, general election. However, I don't know how he'll survive the primaries to get that far.

5) Ron Paul - I have always liked his positions but he has not a chance in hell. Besides, he had no charisma or style even though I agree with almost everything he says. He's as close to Libertarian that this GOP primary will see.

6) I would have loved to see Fred Thompson there just so I could compare him to Huckabee's outstanding performance. As you may know from offline discussions, but Fred has started to edge Huckabee recently in my mind. However, this debate has temporarily guaranteed Governor Huckabee's endorsement from The Musings of Milkey. Once Fred becomes an official candidate, there could be some changes around here...

Tribe Screwed Out of Yet Another Win

The first, of course, being the postponement where the Erie Warriors were one strike away from an official game that they were soundly winning.

The second, being the protested game from last Saturday where the Indians entered their offensive half-inning tied to the Orioles and finished their offensive half-inning down a run. I wonder how many times that's happened.

A recap:

In the bottom of the sixth inning, with the score tied at 2, crew chief Ed Montague instructed the official scorer to add a run to the Orioles' tally, making it 3-2.

The run had come in the top of the third inning. The Orioles were up, 2-1, with one out and runners on the corners. Ramon Hernandez hit a line drive to center field that was caught by Grady Sizemore, who then threw to first base, doubling up Miguel Tejada. But while Sizemore lobbed the ball to first, Nick Markakis tagged up at third and scored before Tejada was ruled out. Thus, Markakis' run should have counted, but it was waved off by home-plate umpire Marvin Hudson.

Baltimore didn't argue the call until after the third, when bench coach Tom Trebelhorn talked it over with Montague. The rule book was summoned, and the umpires had several conversations with both dugouts before Montague finally ruled the run should be tacked on in the sixth.

Indians manager Eric Wedge immediately told Montague the Indians would play the remainder of the game in protest. The Indians took a 4-3 lead on Jhonny Peralta's two-run homer in the sixth, but they eventually lost the game, 7-4.

Once an official protest was filed Sunday, the Indians were hoping MLB would accept it and have the game replayed this weekend in Baltimore -- either from the third inning, with the run intact, or the sixth inning, with the run nullified.

Instead, the game stands as a Cleveland loss...

I watched every pitch of that game and understand that the umpires screwed up and that run should have counted. However, it should have been changed at the time of the bad call. If not --- tough titties. Can an umpire completely change the make-up of a game several innings after the fact? Think about how a manager's strategy could become completely screwed. Imagine closers being wasted and unavailable the following night. Imagine double switches and substitutions that could have been made but weren't because you were winning at the time and the umpire just now decides that you're losing.

At first, I thought the protest would swiftly be ruled in the Tribe's favor due to this gem from the Official Rules (bold emphasis mine):

Rule 4.19 Comment: Whenever a manager protests a game because of alleged misapplication of the rules the protest will not be recognized unless the umpires are notified at the time the play under protest occurs and before the next pitch, play or attempted play. A protest arising on a game-ending play may be filed until 12 noon the following day with the league office.

However, I guess if the O's didn't officially protest the call and just bitched informally, this rule isn't applicable? That's terrible! Why would any team want to officially protest if there's a chance the umpire will change his mind 8 innings later if you complain long enough? That's a heavy dilemma a manager will now have to ponder.

The umps were allowed to screw us fans of the feathered due to this obscure piece of garbage:

Rule 9.01(c) : "Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules."

Completely ridiculous! A rule book can not possibly enumerate every single tiny possibility that could ever arise. This shouldn't give the umpires carte blanche to do whatever the hell they want. Is there a rule that says "Umpires may not force teams to swap their regulation uniforms"? Is there a rule that says "Umpires may not require a batter to perform fellatio before stepping in the box"? I don't see any. This could make the game a lot more interesting.



Conclusion: Rule 4.19 cited above needs to be amended to say that a game can't be turned upside down from an official protest, informal whining, or the sudden whims of an ump at any future point of the contest. Any change that impacts the game needs to be made before play ensues. Next, either Rule 9.01(c) needs to go away or the Official Rules need about 90,000 additional pages.

I'm Not Saying Anything...

But Griffey, Jr looks a lot bigger than he has in years past. I admit that I haven't followed the Reds at all this year and maybe I've missed commentaries about how much extra he worked out in the offseason...

The man is huge for the first time at 38 years old. Not that I'm insinuating anything...